Everyone Else Lost

By

Patrick Chamorel

Updated April 23, 2002 12:01 a.m. ET

Once again, French politics have proved unpredictable. With 17% of the vote, Jean-Marie Le Pen finished just behind incumbent president Jacques Chirac and will face him in the run-off on May 5. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who finished third, has announced he is leaving politics. Mr. Le Pen's second-place showing is the best a far-right candidate has achieved in postwar Europe.

But rather than ask why Mr. Le Pen did so well, French politicians and pundits should be asking themselves why everyone else did so badly. With a...